After The-Dream begged protestors not to destroy property in Atlanta, many pointed out his blind spots when it comes to his wealth and privilege.
was met with plenty of criticism after he urged protestors not to destroy property owned by Black folks in Atlanta. On Saturday (May 30th), after witnessing some of the looting and damage done in Atlanta as a result of the protests against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, The-Dream took to Twitter to send a message to all the protestors in ATL, reminding them who owns most of those businesses.
“Dear People, IF YOU ARE NOT FROM ATLANTA, DONT COME HERE AND PLEASE GO HOME,” he wrote. “I OWN THINGS IN THIS CITY, A LOT OF BLACKS OWN THINGS IN THIS CITY, FROM BANKHEAD TO BUCKHEAD. DO NOT DESTROY PROPERTY THAT NEGATES THE DECADES OF WORK. MY CHILDREN WILL NOT BE SET BACK BY YOU!” Other celebrities, and , have also spoken out against the protests in Atlanta, However, many found The-Dream’s tweet to be rather ignorant, as he failed to recognize what the protests were fighting for.
The-Dream went on to post an extensive series of tweets elaborating on his initial point about Black businesses, and continued to ask that folks not to burn down buildings in the name of justice.
He also responded to some of the critiques he received on the original tweet, continuing to argue against counterpoints.
